I decided to do some close up renders of this engine I’m working on. I’m pretty happy with these spark plugs. I modeled them very quickly, but then I decided to texture them.
The textures really make it work. Here’s a wireframe.
Here’s the real one
Here are some renders of my recent progress on the engine model. I don’t know much about engines. I’m building this by looking at photos, and I can’t see everything very well. If you see something that looks off, let me know. There are still lot of parts missing and it’s not very accurate. I’m hoping to just make it passable for a few shots.
coming along very well
one note
sparkplug’s threads need some TLC
are you going to show the inside of the engine like pistons ect…
happy bl
None of this is going to be shown up close, so that really won’t be an issue, which is why I didn’t spend a lot of time on the spark plugs. If you look at the the picture of the actual spark plug, I don’t think those are actually threads. They seem to be parallel rings. Heat sink maybe? I don’t know. Mine could be sharper, true.
Anyway, this will not be showing how the engine works, so there would be no need to build the interior of the engine. I am envisioning scenes showing the crew operating the engine in normal flight and during the storm where they struggle to regain control of the airship. It will only ever be in the background in the cramped engine cars, in shadow or somewhat out of focus. It’s always a question of, what can I get away with? How much do I really need to show? I worked on a historical TV show once called American Genius in the prop department. I learned a lot from that experience. They re-created things like a Soviet space capsule, and NASA mission control without creating everything down to the last detail. I made a prop of a television camera pick up tube out of a dollar store flower vase and some vacuum tube parts. They showed just enough of it to get the point across. It’s like a magic act.
Modeling the distributor cap and the wires going to it.
It took awhile to figure out how to model those plugs. I finally realized I had to make the sides of the cylinders a number divisible by 6 to make the transition to the hexagonal part. Once I did that, it worked well. Still working on materials. It’s difficult to make it look like the photo. This would have been new in the 1920s though, so it doesn’t need to be so worn and distressed.
for this circa 1900
how many spark plug per piston?
and how many distributer ?
thanks
happy bl
This is something I found interesting. I learn more the closer I examine these photos of this engine. Each piston has 4, FOUR spark plugs. There are FOUR distributors! Each one has SIX wires coming out of it. I can’t fathom why it would need so many. Redundancy? I’m not an engine enthusiast, so I don’t know. Oh, and it’s circa 1922, so one hundred years ago.
i see max of 2 per piston
which for airplane’s engine was normal in WWII
did not know this was also applied on early plane in 1920!
happy bl
There are four spark plugs for each piston, four distributors, 24 wires.
can you show these on image
could not find these in your renders
thanks
happy bl
There are also some other photos I found somewhere else, with some parts removed, which shows things better.
You can see in these photos that there are two distributors on each side of the control panel.
Wow, it’s been nine months since I put this project on the back burner, back shelf actually, haven’t touched it. I got off on a tangent and didn’t come back. Even the engine model here was kind of a tangent. It’s not that important. I want to get back to this now. The 100 year anniversary of the crash of the airship is in 2025. I would like to have a short movie done by that time.
Last year I said I was looking for help with this. What I actually meant was I’m looking for collaborators, people who are interested in this topic and want to work on this with me. It’s a niche topic to be sure, but I know there must be people out there who like this sort of thing. One of the ideas I had is that I’m sure some of the assets I need for this have been modeled by other people. I just need to find them. I might be able to buy certain assets. I have seen add-ons for doing clouds, landscapes, vegetation, and I have found a few other relevant models. Two major structures I need are the airship hangar at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, and the large docking mast. Also, lots of detail parts and greeblies. I need 1920s naval officers, people in 1920s clothing, and various cars.
I would like to hear from any interested parties here. Please let me know of you have built any relevant assets that I could purchase or use. That airship hangar is a fairly famous building for multiple reasons. It’s where the Hindenburg docked outside when it exploded, so I feel like someone must have modeled it already somewhere. If you know anything that could be helpful, please let me know!
Thanks!
Check the Museum… this is far more likely to be the correct engine, and there are perfect screenshots from the different views to model from…
From the Baldwin Collection …very nice scale reference…
Yes, this is the exact engine that I have been modeling. These are the photos that I am using for reference.
I have an extensive collection of reference images, and I ordered a full size blueprint of the hull from the National Archives.
That tower is exactly one of the assets that I need to make this film.
Also, the Lakehurst, NJ hanger (which I feel certain someone has modeled before, somewhere)
And the USS Patoka
Lieutenant Commander Zachary Lansdowne, and interior of the control car
So many things to be modeled. Too much for me alone.
Thanks!
check on web looks there are at least some low poly model
3D model of the Lakehurst NJ hanger
there is also one on sketchfab
but been disable
ask question on site to see why and if still avaiable of free !
happy bl
Low poly and not the best in the world but here is the USS Patoka AV-6 as a Flight Simulator FSX Scene file…
NAS Lakehurst…
That’s very helpful! Thanks RickyBlender and RSEhlers !
That gives me a good start anyway, much more than I had. I even found that high mast on flyawaysimulation.com as well. I hadn’t thought of looking into flight simulators too much. I did find some very realistic looking videos on YouTube from a fighter jet simulator game, which I looked into briefly, but didn’t get very far into it.
I’m going to try to connect with some of these people who model this type of thing, as I’m bound to find some enthusiasts out there who might be willing to help.
Thanks!
Yeah I checked all my sources for a Hanger ( No Joy) but I haven’t signed up to get the Lakehurst NAS scenery file…it shows hanger 1 back in the distance ( quality isn’t the greatest in these files)
I didn’t know if you had the tools for all the conversions, so started on the USS Patoka, not bad for distance shots… terrible for closeups…
